Last year we planted 1324 trees at the Greenpop Reforest Fest and this year, we're hoping for more. Come and be part of this awesome event!

The Platbos forest is an ancient South African forest jewel and we need to protect it. Over the past decades it has been deforested for agriculture and now is under threat of fire as alien vegetation has taken over substantially. Platbos reforestation project aims to ultimately grow the forest back to its original size and splendor.

The Climate Change Leadership Awards (CCLA) has received a record number of entries for the 2011/2012 awards and judging has now been completed following the deadline for entries of February 10.

Categories include Climate Change Heroes for schools, youth groups, communities and individuals and Waste Minimisation Heroes, as well as Private Sector including agriculture and food, energy, minerals and industrials, financial institutions, other corporate services, retail, local municipality and SME.

Is your New Mobility project moving minds as well as people? Then enter the SMART Mobility EnterPrize competition and you could find yourself moving in new mobility circles at Rio+20, and beyond.

New Mobility – also known as ‘sustainable transportation’ – is about moving people, moving goods, and moving less, in ways that are cleaner, greener, safer, healthier, and more equitable (and more ‘hip’, of course…).

After 6 months of exciting and intensive leadership training on how to empower children, adolescents and adults to shape their mindset and actions for a sustainable future, 9 South Africans have returned from Germany, each with some valuable knowledge, competences and innovation projects on their plates to be implemented here in South Africa.

‘We’re not anti-hospital, we’re just about sharing,’ says Ruth as we begin. According to her, natural home birth is a valid option for an expecting mother. These gathering events are a chance for the interested to meet up and discuss – from couples to mothers-to-be, doulas, midwives or simply anyone who is curious about the idea of having a baby at home. As it was Human Rights Month, this particular Home Birth Gathering topic was titled ‘birth as a human rights issue’.

One Struggle – a conference on social justice, animal rights and radical environmentalism - took place in Muizenberg last Saturday (18 Feb) thanks to the South African Vegan Society.

The conference focused on the rights of animals, the environment and human beings.

Hearing about the One Struggle conference, I was immediately excited; the South African Vegan Society represent a genuine passion for true authentic societal change, and I knew this would be reflected in any event they organised.

When we arrived in the afternoon, Jodi Allemeier was busy giving her talk on veganism and food security in Cape Town: explaining how being vegan is better not only for animals, but for people and the earth too. The young lady really sounded like she knew her stuff, and displayed all the facts to back up her statements.

‘We may be making attempts to save water in our home due to turning off taps and showering instead of bathing, but when 85% of our water waste is on our plate it is important that we re-evaluate our diet. And this is not mere theory – the U.N. have been urging people to eat local and plant-based for years,' she explained, adding: 'But it is not just our diet that must change, but the production system of our diet.’

Storytelling can be a powerful medium for community interaction and stimulating the imagination.

Storytelling used to a be a big part of society

A long long time ago - before TV, video games and even radio - people used to tell each other stories. In fact, story-telling was an integral part of the tribal community; we all know about the old tradition of gathering around the evening camp fire to listen to a good old tale or two. Historically our myths, legends, fables and folklore have helped pass many a morale and life lesson from one generation to the next. While some seem wacky, the archetypes and intrinsic wisdom are forever present in their words.